My name is Harry Hunt, and I both live and have a business in Glen Cove. As most of us know, a recent hot-button issue has been the Glen Isle mixed-use waterfront development. Personally, I can't for the life of me understand why some people seem to be against a project that will be of such benefit to our city.

I know people talk about traffic, and they talk about how high the buildings are. First, traffic is a Long Island-wide issue, not just a Glen Cove issue. Living and working here, I certainly don't want to have bottlenecked roads just to get around. But the fact is people imagine that the traffic generated from Glen Isle will be a whole lot greater than what the development will actually contribute. That is just the natural tendency of people to worry and to fear change.

The Glen Isle project is necessary for our city to grow and to thrive in the future. The question is not "should we grow?" because we need to grow. Our city's rising taxes, crumbling infrastructure and decreasing industrial base demonstrate that need. The Glen Isle plan, with the elements of smart growth and their reliance on some of the world's best planning and architecture firms demonstrate the developer's commitment not just to help our city grow, but to help our city grow in a smart way that will benefit us all.

Let's get a few facts on the table. The Glen Isle development will contribute a huge amount to reducing our tax burden in addition to providing a whole lot of jobs both during construction and on an ongoing basis. Considering we just got hit with a near 30 percent tax hike (and as I understand it, things could get worse since the city has now asked the state for deficit financing) and considering the recent job losses of Konica and Photocircuits, our population should not be looking to hold up the Glen Isle development. Rather, we should be doing everything in our power to get this process moving so our city can reap the benefits of having $1 billion of private investment pouring into our city.

The other thing that really bothers me is when people complain about the height of the buildings. It should be noted that the complainers are often the same small group of people that in my opinion would oppose anything. If we listened to this group of NIMBYs on how we should run our city, we wouldn't have much of a city at all in a few years. Are the buildings higher than what we are "used to" in Glen Cove? Sure. But why is that a bad thing? The development will be located along Garvies Point road and won't even be visible from 99 percent of Glen Cove unless you are in the Glen Isle neighborhood. In addition, when I asked the developers about why there was a need to have the planned building heights, their explanation made perfect sense. It saves land for public open space and parkland while preserving views to Garvies Point. In addition, the buildings are not just big block-like structures like the Avalon but rather stepped buildings with beautiful green roofs that will blend into the natural surroundings.

Instead of fighting the Glen Isle development, people should look to engage the developers so our city - from residents on up to the city council and mayor - can find a way to get past whatever issues exist and get this project built. Our city desperately needs the financial benefits, our residents need the tax relief and the entire area would benefit in terms of accessibility to public amenities and an improved quality of life. I am tired of hearing the same small group of vocal NIMBYs that would prefer our city shun progress while we fall further in debt. It is time to accept the positives of progress and move forward with the Glen Isle development and I implore our elected officials to do whatever is in their power to make this dream a reality in our lifetime.

Harry Hunt